Somewhere Like Heaven
by steelia
Summary: In an Earth taken over by Decepticons, Starscream and Megatron battle Shockwave for control of a city-state named Solaris. Meanwhile, the few remaining humans face a terrifying threat of their own while hiding out in the Arctic. Will they take their chances facing this new enemy alone or reach out to the only help left, the Decepticons.-Last Chapter now posted.
1. The Rise of Tricon

Summary: This story takes place 5 years after the Transformers Prime series. The Deceptions have finally gotten the upper hand, killing the Autobots, and turning Earth into a new world of their own. As Starscream and Megatron battle Shockwave for control over the city-state Solaris, a terrifying threat has emerged for the remaining humans hiding out in the Arctic and they are faced with an enormous decision: stay in the Arctic and face this new threat where they are likely to die, or take their chances and reach out to the only help available, the Decepticons.

This story is rated Mature due to violence, language and adult innuendo only, no sexual situations occur.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Tranformers characters presented in this story other than my own original characters Silvershine and Bethany.

Chapter 1

The Rise of Tricon

The world is mine and everything in it.

- - Psalm 50:12

The wind sang softly as pale clouds twisted and swirled in the night sky, the bright, round moon peeking out from them to shine down on the dark tower. An ominous shade of purple-black, the tower stood over 3,000 feet tall. Massive and brazen, it was a reminder to all that this was Tricon, the capital of New Cybertron. Sitting atop the enormous tower was a large, metal triangle that brandished the Decepticon emblem. The triangle symbolized the three rulers of Tricon: Lord Megatron, Lord Starscream and Commander Dreadwing. Megatron had once been the only ruler of the Decepticons, but two incidents had served to change that, both involved Starscream.

Starscream sat in his elaborately ornate throne chair and peered out of a near-by window at the night sky. His own residence was nearly as high as the tower itself; he designed it this way intentionally, because he loved the sky and because he enjoyed looking down from above on what was his. Starscream surveyed the Deception architecture in the landscape below, lights beaconing in the night, bringing Tricon to life. It had been quite easy to take Earth once the Autobots had fallen. The humans, without their Autobot aids, where helpless to resist the Decepticon forces. Oh they had tried, but that silly little show had been like a mouse trying to take on a lion, to put it in human terms. Most humans had been extinguished, except for a few that were part of a resistance movement, hid out somewhere in the Arctic, where they thought the Transforming aliens would not venture due to their adversion to the cold temperatures. That wasn't entirely true Starscream thought, he had sent his own air forces there to search for humans. While it was true that his kind did not like the cold, it was no threat to them.

Besides, the humans were of no consequence to him or Megatron really. They were like insects scurrying beneath their feet, trying to hide. If they didn't want to work for the Decepticons and make themselves useful, then they would eventually die of cold or starvation. They wouldn't last long hiding out in the Arctic Starscream mused.

Starscream stared up at the Tricon tower. Its three points as sharp and deadly as the three who ruled the city it represented. Starscream had assured himself a place as a ruler of Tricon with his discovery of a reliable formula for synthetic energon, one that would not harm him or his race and because of one other simple fact, he had killed Optimus Prime. He had _murdered_ Optimus Prime so hard and so fiercely that even Megatron had been shocked. It wasn't so much that he had killed the Autobot leader, Primus knows he had killed Autobots before, but it was more in the way he carried out the execution that had other mechs adverting their eyes when they met him in the hallways.

Well, they had to see it coming Starscream contemplated. All those years of power chasing, only to have the leadership role you so strongly desired slip through your hands time and time again, well, it had to make one snap eventually. The other Autobots fell soon after their beloved leader did, making the humans an open target for the Decepticon forces. The Decepticons had rebuilt earth into a glorious New Cybertron, and its most impressive city-state was Tricon.

There was really only one other city-state that could ever challenge Tricon for superiority, Solaris. Ruled by Shockwave, it attempted to rely on solar-power for fuel and energy in place of energon, since energon had become so scarce. Tricon on the other hand had synthetic energon, as pure as the real thing, making it the wealthiest of all the city-states of New Cybertron. The synthetic energon was manufactured in Tricon and shipped to all the city-states who served Tricon and recognized its leaders as their masters.

Starscream rose from his throne chair and walked to stand in front of the large observation window looking out over Tricon. Solaris will be mine too he thought. But he didn't want another war, not really. Ready for it as he may be if it did come, he preferred a peaceful, submissive planet ready to be ruled. But Solaris was in the way and so was Shockwave. Starscream twisted his face into a dark smirk, his reflection staring back at him from the window. Solaris' solar-powered system was not stainable and Starscream knew it. The city had grown too fast and needed more power than the system could provide, its residents were beginning to experience the pangs of energy starvation. But Starscream would not go to Shockwave and offer any assistance; he would make Shockwave come to him.

He will come to me, Starscream thought, begging on his knees.

Starscream's deliberations were interrupted by an alert on his communications console. He moved to the control panel and saw that it was an incoming call from his 1st Sergeant of the air defense, Thundercracker.

"Yes?" Starscream simply stated addressing Thundercracker.

"I am sorry to disturb you Lord Starscream," Thundercracker began, nervousness showing a little in his tone. He had always been nervous around Starscream to a certain degree, but after witnessing the incident with Optimus Prime, he had all the more reason to be cautious now. He kept remembering flashes of splattered energon, Starscream's claws….. the memories haunted him.

"Go on," Starscream replied, a smile spreading across his face at Thundercracker's apprehension.

"I'm afraid…I'm afraid I don't have good news my Lord."

"What is it?" Starscream almost hissed. He tried to keep his composure intact around Thundercracker, he actually somewhat liked the bot, enjoyed his loyalty and willingness to please. The other Decepticons could learn a little from that.

"There was a break in at one of the synthetic energon production facilities. We think it is a spy, possibly sent by Shockwave to uncover the energon formula. I spotted him from the air on patrol with my unit. We wounded him and took him into custody. We await your command on how to proceed with the situation."

"The spy is alive?" Starscream questioned.

"Correct my Lord."

"Really?" Starscream purred. "Well, I think I'll just have to go greet our little guest myself."

"I will see that the prisoner is ready for questioning my Lord."

"Thank you. That will be all Thundercracker."

Thundercracker nodded, bowing his head before disappearing off screen.


	2. Messages

Chapter 2

Messages

"Does it hurt little scout?" Starscream questioned sadistically, his eyes fixed on the open wound carved in Bumblebee's side by Thundercracker's sidewinder missile. "Perhaps your decision to join Shockwave after the other Autobot's demise was not a wise one hmm?" Starscream asked as he continued to pace around Bumblebee, who was suspended by his arms in the middle of the interrogation room. Starscream suddenly stopped behind Bumblebee and neared so close that Bumblebee could feel his angry, heated spark pressed against his back.

"You know if it doesn't hurt," Starscream purred into his audio receptor, "I am certain I could fix that for you," he said as he traced a finger around the edges of the open wound.

Bumblebee whimpered remembering Optimus…..energon splattered over his…Starscream's long claws and….Optimus' eyes going dark.

"It hurts," Bumblebee whispered softly.

"Hmm?" Starscream said. "You're going to have to speak up little scout, I can't hear you,"

The others in the room, Thundercracker, Commander Dreadwing and an assistant of Starscream's named Silvershine watched the interrogation as Starscream continued to question Bumblebee. Silvershine was not sure why Starscream had really wanted her here to witness this, she was not an officer and was much younger than the other bots, she had been a neutral and had only recently came to Tricon once the war had ended . Even though Silvershine was young, she was a top data analyst and Starscream had wanted her to monitor the synthetic energon production. He said it was important she know and recognize what kind of spies Shockwave might send, that is why he called her here.

"I said Speak Up!" Starscream yelled as he backhanded Bumblebee across the face.

Silvershine couldn't take it and buried her head in Commander Dreadwing's side, who was standing next to her, to hide her eyes from the dark scenery. Dreadwing allowed it, knowing Silvershine was too young and too far removed from any type of battle to have witnessed such a torture scene before.

"It Hurts!" Bumblebee finally screamed out.

"I know it does little scout," Starscream crooned softly "but you can make it stop, just tell me, was it Shockwave who sent you here? What is he looking for, the energon formula?"

"Yes," Bumblebee responded weakly, head beginning to drop from exhaustion.

"Getting tired of our little game already?" Starscream asked. "You're not going to faint on me are you?"

"Starscream," Bumblebee murmured, a scratchy whisper. "I'm…..so hungry."

Starscream nodded to Commander Dreadwing who understood his wordless command and stepped forward, a cube of synthetic energon in his hand. Starscream took the cube and brought it to Bumblebee's mouth, helping him drink.

"Is that better little scout?"

Starscream lifted Bumblebee's gaze up to meet his, placing a long finger under his chin. He was so close, Bumblebee could feel his air exhaust. It was warm and soothing to his aching body. Starscream smiled at Bumblebee, it was almost a kind smile, in a sadistic sort of way Bumblebee thought.

"I will tell you little scout," Starscream purred, running a finger down the side of Bumblebee's faceplate, "that I am not going to take your spark. Instead of delivering the energon formula to Shockwave, you will deliver a message from me to your master. You will tell him that No One will have synthetic energon unless it is through me."

Bumblebee nodded, exhaling a long sigh.

"Cut him loose!" Starscream commanded "and dump him outside." Starscream turned away and moved to exit the interrogation room, leaving the others behind to deal with Bumblebee.

"Megatron would have taken my spark," Bumblebee said, a glazed over look in his optics. He wanted to die, he wanted to join Optimus and the others, there was nothing left here for him and Shockwave was no one to go home to.

"What did you say?" Starscream rasped. He turned, almost in slow motion Bumblebee noticed, and stared intensely at Bumblebee, murder in his optics.

Holy slag Sivershine thought, who was now huddling behind Commander Dreadwing.

"Megatron would have taken my spark," Bumblebee repeated louder.

Starscream stood frozen in place, glaring at Bumblebee for what seemed like ages. The whole room seemed to be holding its breath.

"I am not Megatron," Starscream finally replied coolly. "Megatron is a warlord and former gladiator, skilled in combat and battle. And while I do enjoy a good off-lining, I am also a strategist. Megratron has no patience for politics."

"I didn't take your spark," Starscream continued, closing the distance between him and Bumblebee, "because dead bots don't deliver messages. "But do not mistake," he whispered into Bumblebee's audio receptor "that I could have if I wanted to little Bee, remember Optimus?"

Bumblebee lowered his eyes from Starscream's gaze; he didn't need that memory again.

"You know Bee, here's an idea," Starscream stated smoothly "why don't you join us? You have to think about your future Bee. Optimus is dead now; he would have wanted you to move on."

"He's dead because you killed him you slag,"

"Yes…..I did do that," Starscream admitted "but it was war and I was only following the orders of my commanding officer Megatron. Would you not have done the same Bee, if Optimus had asked you to kill Megatron? The war is over and it's a new era, one where you could have a bright future as my own scout. Or, you could continue to serve Shockwave and starve to death, which is no way to die I'm sure little Bee and neither is having your spark ripped out by me," Starscream rasped deadly.

"Ok," Bee surrendered "I'll join you." Whether he wanted to admit it or not, he needed to stay alive, if nothing else, to be around to protect any humans that might still surface and right now Starscream was the only way to do that.

"Good," Starscream replied. "Maybe you Autobots have some sense after all. Your first order of business as my scout will be to visit Shockwave and offer him my proposal."

"What will Megatron think about this?" Bumblebee questioned "Me joining you."

"You keep bringing him up don't you little scout?" Starscream fumed. "Do you miss him little one?"

"No," Bumblebee replied, "it's just…sometimes….. L …..Lord Starscream you haven't always made decisions with Megatron in mind. What if he sees me here and offlines me?

"Don't worry, little Bee, I'll protect you," Starscream smirked. "I can assure you, Megatron won't be offlining you anytime soon, if anyone here is going to do that it is going to be me. But you aren't going to do anything to give me reason to do that now are you?"

"No," Bumblebee shook his head.

"That's good," Starscream replied, "because I would hate to have to end our little working relationship. Megatron and I share power here now, along with Commander Dreadwing," Starscream made a gesture with his arm, hand outstretched toward Dreadwing, "and while Megatron is away on business, _I_ am fully in charge," Starscream stated proudly, hand now gesturing toward himself.

He always did talk with his hands Silvershine thought, eyes now peeking out from behind Dreadwing's waist. In the lab with him, during her training sessions, she remembered his sweeping hand movements, gesturing toward an instrument or hands moving to express an idea. He had those long fingers that could be just as elegant as deadly. Even though she somewhat feared Starscream, sometimes she imaged those hands and long fingers caressing and moving over her small frame.

"I understand," Bumblebee said coolly. "I will report back to Shockwave and extend your offer."


	3. A Cold Place Called Hell

Chapter 3

A Cold Place called Hell

The enemy of my enemy is my friend

- - Chinese proverb

Her mom used to tell her, back when she was little, that one day the world would end and those that had lived a good life would go to heaven. Bethany had been a straight A student in high school and once in college had made the dean's list, volunteered for several charities and was always kind and friendly to everyone she met. She had great friends, a wonderful boyfriend she had been with for 2 years, and a warm hearted family. All that was gone now.

Bethany sat on a large, black rock, drawing circles in the snow with a broken stick. She had been a biology major in college and had planned on medical school, but that was gone now too. The college she used to attend was gone, the city of Toronto, her home-town, was gone, her family, boyfriend and friends were gone, the whole damned world _had_ ended and it turned out there was no heaven, only hell.

The only thing that had saved her was that she had been away at a special biology conference for honor students held in the United States. One of the guest speakers had been from an agency called Darpa, some type of military technology research organization, which also performed biological research. They were working with the mechanical aliens, the good ones, which had come to be known as the Autobots. They were looking into ways to combine human and alien technology for planetary defense. The conference was where she had first met Special Agent Fowler as well as another young woman named Miko who was attending the conference as well.

Bethany let out a long sigh. If she closed her eyes, she could still picture her mom's smile, the last thing she did before she left for her trip was hug her mom. That was the last time she saw her alive.

The attacks had started fast. It was as if hell itself was raining down on the conference center. The Decepticons were attacking and they were winning. Text messages started coming in on cell phones, relatives trying desperately to get hold of conference attendees, even if only to text a final goodbye. News reports showed cities burning and lives ending. Toronto had been leveled to the ground, there was nothing left. Darpa had quickly evacuated everyone in the conference center to the safest locations possible and Bethany had ended up here, in a base location in the Arctic, with about a dozen Darpa scientists, several U.S. soldiers, Agent Fowler and Miko. They had been here for almost two years, hiding out, keeping alive by eating stock piled food and bottled water and trying to adjust to this new normal they found themselves in. Then, one night, hell got worse.

They started appearing. At first, there was no attack and only a few people in their camp had witnessed them walking among the trees in the thick cedar forest nearby. The Darpa scientists had placed video surveillance equipment to try to capture footage of what they were actually seeing. Two years of living in hiding in a remote place cooped up with cabin fever had made them question what their eyes were witnessing. But there was no question after the attacks started.

They looked almost like shadow figures, with no distinct facial features, nothing where eyes, nose and ears should have been, only the outline of a face and head, and they glowed like light. You could see them very clearly, there wasn't much chance they could hide, but once you did see them, it was too late. They moved very swiftly, like lightening almost, and were on you before you could blink. They seemed to be draining the energy from and feeding off of their victims. There had been two victims so far, Dr. Myers and Dr. Curry, both Darpa scientists. These new aliens were as bad a threat as the Decepticons if not worse, at least the Decepticons had offered them work, even if it had turned out to be some of the hardest labor she had ever experienced it will still be preferable to this. They were waiting to die, with no way to outrun these light aliens; they were being picked off like flies. Bethany wondered if the Decepticons knew the aliens were here.

"Are you ok?" Miko asked concerned.

"Are _you_ ok?" Bethany repeated the question.

"No," Miko admitted.

"Neither am I," Bethany replied.

Both girls sat staring at the snow beneath their feet.

"Why won't they come back Miko?" Bethany asked. "Why won't they come again looking for us?"

"We were good at hiding the first time Thundercracker and his unit came," Miko answered. "Maybe they think there's no one here."

"We were idiots," Bethany sighed shaking her head.

"We didn't know then what we know now," Miko stated. "Besides, Starscream and Megatron, they may have just ended up killing us, there is no guarantee they wouldn't have, we ran from them, refused to work for them, you don't get many chances with Starscream or Megatron for that matter."

"Miko, how do you want to die?" Bethany asked, eyes wide with emotion. "Take your pick, Decepticons or these light freaks here? At least with the Decepticons, we could have surrendered, we could have had a chance, these….these light fuckers…you can't even talk to them, their draining us and we can't even scream out for help once they have us. Dr. Myers, she was like an empty shell when they found her, my God."

Miko took a deep breath, exhaled and closed her eyes. "I know, I know," she said. "You know you shouldn't be out here by yourself, that's why I came to get you. I know they only come out at night, but still."

"You're probably right," Bethany replied. "No sense sitting out here dwelling on the past when the past is gone."

Miko patted Bethany on the shoulder, knowing they both had experienced the same pain, losing their family.

"Miko, you and Fowler have been around the Decepticons. Do you think there might be some way we could send a message?"

"I don't know. You know, one of them is some kind of communications officer, Soundwave is his name I think. He is almost like a communication device himself, with other communication devices he uses that are a part of him. I don't know, it's weird," Miko said.

"Don't all communication devices have some kind of frequency or something?" Bethany asked. "I remember when my brother and I were little, we used to have these set of hand-held radios, they had to be set to the same channel or frequency before we could use to them talk to each other."

"So?" said Miko.

"Well what if Soundwave has some kind of frequency like that?" Bethany questioned. "What if we could somehow use the communication devices we have here to somehow tap into it and send him a message?"

"Yeah," said Miko, getting more interested, "but how? We don't even know if Soundwave works like that. Maybe he doesn't have any frequency at all since he is an alien he may not be like the devices we have here."

"We have to try Miko."

"I agree," Miko replied.

Miko jumped as she heard a branch snap in the distance.

"You're right Miko, we need to get back inside the base. It will be dark soon."


	4. Ceremony

Chapter 4

Ceremony

Shockwave stood in the middle of the grand balcony of the Tricon capital building. Immediately in front of him stood Starscream and to his right stood Megatron and Commander Dreadwing. A mixture of his own people and the people of Tricon waited below to watch the ceremony. Shockwave had not wanted it to come to this, but his people were starving and it was time to put the differences between Solaris and Tricon behind him and take the only action he could see possible. It was supposed to be a simple ceremony where he would formally ask for assistance, Starscream and the powers that be would accept, and Solaris would become a part of Tricon. Having both cities witness the event would prevent confusion and war and make the transition more orderly.

"Citizens of Tricon and Solaris," Starscream spoke "we are gathered here to witness the unification of our two great cities. We of Tricon have seen the struggles of Solaris and wish to offer our assistance. In return, Solaris will give up its sovereignty and accept Tricon as its ruling city-state. Shockwave, do you accept our proposal?"

"Yes," Shockwave agreed, stepping forward toward Starscream.

"Then you can ask for my help on your knees," Starscream whispered to Shockwave, a cunning smirk on his face.

"In front of my own people?" Shockwave questioned, low enough so that the crowd couldn't hear. He was taken aback; this was not part of the ceremony. "Please Starscream, it's obvious we need your assistance, please don't make me do this. Is it not enough that you now have Solaris, must you take my dignity with it?"

Starscream's wordless glare answered Shockwave's question.

"You bastard," Shockwave said.

"Yes," Starscream hissed. "Now bow!"

Shockwave slowly lowered himself to his knees, swallowing the pride he had left. "I formally accept your proposal Lord Starscream," Shockwave stated to Starscream and the crowd below, "and relinquish my command of Solaris."

Some the in crowd gasped as they saw Shockwave bow to Starscream, but others seemed to know it was coming.

"It's your fault you know," Starscream whispered, staring down at Shockwave. You broke off on your own, wouldn't follow orders, killed many humans before they even had a chance to accept my plans for them and those that were left were too scared to accept them after they saw the destruction left by you, and ran instead. It is a shame now that they will be useless and most likely die. We suffered three delays in synthetic energon production due to not enough workers. We would have been able to supply enough to every city-state, including Solaris, early on had those delays not have occurred."

Shockwave was wordless as he stayed kneeling before Starscream.

"You're lucky I don't take your spark right here for delaying my plans," Starscream rasped. "See to it that you never give me reason to again."

Shockwave nodded and slowly rose from his position. He didn't want to piss off Starscream, he had heard what happened to Optimus.

"So, the deal is complete," Starscream announced to the crowd. "We will take immediate control of Solaris and begin shipments of synthetic energon."

Applause along with clicks and beeps were heard from the crowd as the announcement was made.

"Nicely played," Megatron whispered his approval to Starscream.

"Yes, it would seem the tables have now turned in our favor," Starscream replied. "Commander Dreadwing," Starscream said "take our newest recruit here and escort him to his new work assignment in the main production facility."

"Of course, Lord Starscream," Dreadwing responded as he rounded up Shockwave and took him away.

"Oh and Dreadwing,"

"Yes, Lord Starscream?"

"See to it that Bumblebee is rewarded, high grade, femmes, whatever."

Dreadwing nodded and exited the balcony as did Megatron and Starscream.

"That has been a long time coming Megatron," Starscream remarked as they walked together down the corridor leading from the balcony.

"I agree Starscream," Megatron acknowledged. There was no formal title of Lord used in a conversation between the two of them. There was no need for such formality; they were equals in this new playing field. With the war finally over, the tension had calmed between them, things were almost like they used to be in the beginning, when they first met and joined the Decepticon cause.

"You would expect such dissention from an Autobot, but one of our own, it's unacceptable," Starscream said.

"A futile attempt at a grab for power," Megatron replied. "I am glad your planning put an end to it."

"Soundwave has news to share," Megatron continued. "He requested we report to the briefing room after the ceremony."

"Oh?" Starscream replied.

"It seems he has picked up some kind of strange transmission, most likely he has discovered a few remaining humans, possibly the ones we believed to be located in the Arctic region."

"Hmm," Starscream replied unconcerned. "Humans are certainly interesting, able to survive quite adverse conditions at times."

"Yes," Megatron agreed. "Well, I will leave it to you to decide what to do with them should they be located, they were originally slated to be a part of your project after all."

"Indeed they were," Starscream replied "before Shockwave interfered," he stated hotly.

"Well, let us report to Soundwave, to confirm what news he has for us," said Megatron.


	5. Static

(This is a short little chapter; hope everyone likes the story so far. This is bit different from the last story I did. The last story did have some dark moments, but had some upbeat/romance moments as well. Ok, this is going to sound kind of deep here, but I think sometimes in life we don't always get a chance to choose between good and evil or black and white, sometimes there are a lot of gray areas. That is kind of what inspired this story; the human characters really have to choose between the lesser of two evils. Anyway, just wanted to try something different, please feel free to give your opinions, I welcome all kinds of feedback/reviews, whether good or bad. Hope you enjoy this new chapter.)

Chapter 5

Static

"Well, what do you think it is?" Megatron questioned Bumblebee, who was sitting at a table in the briefing room across from him. Starscream stared at Bumblebee with a see I told you Megatron wasn't going to scrap you look on his face. The three of them along with Soundwave sat at the conference table listening to the sound that one of Soundwave's recording devices had picked up.

It sounded like radio interference, but it had a pattern. Like listening to static with a whistling sound on top of it that was getting louder, then lower, then louder again.

"This sound was intercepted directly by Soundwave himself," Megatron explained "almost as if the communication was directed at him personally. You are more familiar with the humans than any of us; is it possible it is them?" Megatron continued to question Bumblebee.

"With all due respect Lord Megatron," Bumblebee began "why would they want to contact the Decepticons? They are afraid of you. Scrap, they might even be afraid of me after what our kind did to Earth."

"True," Megatron admitted. "It is also possible that the signal was unintended to reach Soundwave and did so by accident."

"No," Starscream cut in "It wasn't an accident. The humans meant for this to happen. They are sending a signal on Soundwave's own frequency. The question is why?"

"A trap?" Megatron pondered.

Starscream sat motionless, going over the details in his mind. The humans had fled after the attacks, out of anger and fear, there was nothing they could possibly gain from contact with Soundwave at this point, unless it was some kind of plot or trap. It wouldn't be the first time humans had tried to trap his kind, the human terrorists group MECH had tried several times before they were wiped out in the attacks. This band of humans was small however, and didn't have the capabilities or firepower of MECH.

"There is really no way to be certain Megatron without investigating further," Starscream answered. "I believe we should send Lazerbeak on a scouting trip to try once again to locate these humans. If they are up to something, we need to know."

"Agreed," Megatron stated. "Soundwave, please see that Lazerbeak is given this assignment. This meeting is dismissed."


	6. Recollection

Thanks to those who reviewed after the last chapter. Glad you guys are enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 6

Recollection

Agent William Fowler sat at a display console searching through hours of surveillance video. Alongside him sat Dr. Dianna Collins, lead researcher of Darpa's Defense Science Office. Miko and Bethany had been busying themselves at a an instrument panel nearby, one that controlled radio wave emissions from the high frequency radio wave antenna outside used by Darpa to conduct ionospheric research. Dr. Collins had suggested it when the girls told her their idea; she had also given them a set of signals to try which she thought might be successful in reaching Soundwave based on what she knew of his characteristics.

"Well we now know they only come out at night," Dr. Collins was saying, "maybe they have some kind of adversion to daylight, the sun?"

"You'd think they'd have no problem with sunlight, their made out of light themselves," Fowler replied.

"They seem to be made out of light," Dr. Collins said, "but we don't know that for sure. They could have some sort of biological make up that glows, perhaps their skin glows and creates the effect of being made out of light. We've seen this in nature before, with cuttlefish for example."

"They have no face, no eyes, ears, mouth, strangest thing I've ever seen," Fowler said shaking his head.

"Maybe they're like bats, using some type of sonar-like senses to navigate or communicate," Dr. Collins suggested. "We have to learn as much as we can about them, the more we know, the more chance we might be able to discover their weaknesses."

"Why do you think it is that they seem to be feeding on us?" Fowler asked. "They're not attacking us in self-defense."

"No, you're right," Dr. Collins answered, "they are feeding on us. Dr. Myers had some kind of marks on her arms, it was like all the proteins had been drained out of her body. If we don't find a way to kill these things, eventually we'll be the ones that die. We can't just stay locked away in this base forever, we'll run out of food and water if they don't kill us first."

"And you think light may be the key?" Fowler asked.

"It's the only lead we have so far," Dr. Collins replied. "Look at this surveillance video," she instructed, "this was an experiment that Dr. Myers and I set up before she was killed. We attached a motion sensor light to a tree in an area where the aliens are known to gather. You can see how this alien approaches the light and then recoils when the light pops on. He seems to retreat pretty quickly, but the light doesn't exactly kill him."

"He?" Fowler questioned.

"He…it," Dr. Collins offered. "There's no way to tell if these things even have a gender."

"It's almost as if they are afraid of the light," Fowler noticed as he watched the footage on the surveillance video.

"Yes, that appears to be tr…," Dr. Collins' sentence was cut off by Miko's sudden outburst.

"They're here!" she screamed. "It's the Decepticons!"

Agent Fowler looked at the display screen showing footage picked up by the surveillance cameras outside.

"It's Lazerbeak," he said.

"We have to let him know we're here," Miko said.

"Miko, no!" Fowler exclaimed. "It's getting too dark outside. Miko get back here!"

Miko punched the code in at the main entrance and was outside before Fowler could grab her. The fresh snow was past her ankles and made it hard for her to move fast as she struggled to run to where Lazerbeak was spotted hovering. She tripped over an unseen rock and fell face first into the snow. As she lifted her head to spit out some snow she had almost swallowed, she felt a presence immediately behind her. It was bright, its glow lighting up some of the snow in front of her. Miko's ankle hurt too much to run, not that it would have done any good anyway, she knew they were too fast to outrun. Miko screamed in horrified terror as the light creature grabbed her leg, its touch stinging through her pants. It began to pull her back toward it as something else was lowering metal tentacles to lock onto her arms and waist. Miko looked up with tears in her eyes and saw Lazerbeak. She grabbed onto his tentacles and held on with all the strength she had in her, finally breaking free from the light creature's grip as she rose with her winged savior into the night sky.

Bumblebee sat at the lab table in Starscream's lab. Lord Starscream had ordered him to assist Silvershine with some data analysis. She looked so small Bumblebee thought as he watched her organizing some samples to test. He wondered how she had ended up working for Starscream.

"When Star found me I was almost dead. I actually came here to Earth to assist the Autobots during the war, but ended up working for Star." Silvershine explained.

"A lot of people ended up working for Sta…..Lord Starscream after the war," Bumblebee remarked, thinking of how widespread synthetic energon now was. "Do you call him that to his face?" Bumblebee asked. Some could get away with calling him Scream, at times, Bumblebee thought, but being on such a personal, first-name basis with him was pretty rare.

"Sometimes," Silvershine replied shyly.

"Are you and Lord Starscream, uhm….," Bumblebee tried to ask.

"No," Silvershine responded quickly. Then she sighed, letting out a deep gush of air from her exhaust. "But it's not that I would not want to be. He's beautiful."

"Well he is certainly in a powerful position now," Bumblebee remarked, careful of what he said about Starscream, "I can see how that could be attractive to a femme or some mechs even."

"It's not just that," Silvershine replied, "he's certainly powerful, that's for sure, but there is this vulnerability about him too, pain that he doesn't always show. Knowing how powerful and deadly he can be just makes it that much more breathtaking when he does show a sensitive side."

Bumblebee didn't get it, he was into femmes himself, and didn't find Starscream attractive in the least.

"I think there is someone else Starscream loved though, someone he hasn't gotten over," Silvershine continued.

"Arcee," Bumblebee responded, memories of her surfacing in his processor. "He blamed Prime for her death. I was away on a scouting mission, so Prime sent Arcee to investigate one of Shockwave's combat units. She was just supposed to find out their location and report back to Prime, but she was stubborn and thought she saw a chance to take a few of them out, that move got her killed. Starscream blamed Prime for sending her there. During a battle, he shot at Prime from the air, landing a missile right at his head and decapitating him. That was not good enough for Starsream though, he grabbed Prime's lifeless frame and tore his dead spark out with his bare hands, ripping it to pieces in a rage."

"Oh," Silvershine said, "so that's how it happened. It's no wonder there are so many mechs around here that are intimidated around Starscream. I'm sorry Bumblebee; I know Prime was your leader."

"It's in the past now," Bumblebee said, "no point in dwelling on something you can't change; it just keeps unnecessary pain lurking around when it's better to move on."

"Soundwave," Silvershine acknowledged as she saw him appear in the doorway.

"Lazerbeak has returned," Soundwave informed them. "Lord Starscream requests your presence in the briefing room." His voice was a mechanical, monochromatic tone.

"He can talk?" Bumblebee asked confused.

"Well yeah," Silvershine replied.

Bumblebee just shrugged his shoulders in a human gesture as they headed toward the briefing room. There was a lot about the Decepticons he was learning.

"and then Lazerbeak swooped down and pulled me away right as the light creature was trying to grab me. He saved my life," Miko was explaining excitedly to Starscream, "Lazerbeak rules!"

Starscream sat back in his chair, staring at the small human sitting on the table in front of him. He surveyed the officers around him, Megatron, Commander Dreadwing, Knockout, Thundercracker, and yet this little human, surrounded by some of the deadliest Decepticons in existence, seemed almost happy to be here. It was troubling. Starscream looked at the light creature on the monitor, then back at Miko. She had even called him Lord Starscream, had been _happy_ to call him Lord Starscream.

"and you are certain these….light creatures as you call them are not of human origin?" Starscream continued to question her. "Perhaps some sort of weapon or soldiers designed by humans themselves?"

"The Darpa scientists don't know what they are, two scientists have even been killed, it's like they drained their life away or something," Miko responded.

Starscream and Megatron exchanged worried glances.

"Bee!" Miko exclaimed as Bumblebee, Silvershine and Soundwave walked into the room. "You're alive."

"There is no time for reunions now," Starscream raised his hand to silence them.

"Tell me Miko," he purred her name gently. "Are there more Darpa scientists still alive?"

"Yes, they are all there inside the base, Agent Fowler is with them," Miko told him eagerly.

She was spilling information like she couldn't say it fast enough Starscream pondered. In all his years of interrogating, he had never had a hostage so willing to share information. His mind still wondered if this was all a trap to lure them to the base. But then, the readings Lazerbeak picked up on the creature were unlike anything they had seen before, and he knew in his mind the creatures couldn't be under human control. He had learned as much as he could by talking with Miko.

"Knockout," Starscream said. "You and Silvershine take our little guest here and examine the wound on her leg. Perhaps by examining it, we can learn about the creatures that caused it."

Miko was a little apprehensive about being picked up by Knockout, but not nearly as much as she should have been Starscream noticed.

"Thundercracker, take your unit and collect the rest of the humans, alive," Starscream commanded. "We need to learn what these scientists know."

"Yes, Lord Starscream," Thundercracker acknowledged.

Bumblebee stared at the monitor with the image of the light creature on it. He stood frozen in place, a mixture of apprehension and fear filling his processors. Something about the image seemed familiar and brought a sense of dread to him, but he could not find a reason as to why. It was like some distant memory in his past now coming to the surface.

"What is it Bumblebee?" Starscream asked concerned, seeing the expression on Bumblebee's faceplate.

"I don't know," Bumblebee said, his optics wide, "I can't remember….but I know one thing, the humans didn't do this. I've seen these things before; I just can't remember what they are, or why I fear them so much."


	7. Bad Memories

Chapter 7

Bad Memories

I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of infinite space – were it not that I have bad dreams.

- Shakespeare's Hamlet

Bumblebee was now keenly aware that Starscream was standing right behind him. He had backed right into him as he was moving away from the image of the light creature on the display screen in front of him. The others had left the meeting to go about the tasks that Starscream had assigned to them, now Starscream was the only one in the room with him.

The sudden collision of Bumblebee's frame against him did not cause Starscream to budge at all. He stood there firm and immovable, he was used to being banged around from his past skirmishes with Megatron and could take quite a lot. The crash against Starscream caused Bumblebee to almost fall forward, but Starscream caught him by the shoulders and slowly spun Bumblebee around to face him.

"Bumblebee," Starscream began, "surely you must remember something about these creatures if they frighten you this much. Perhaps Soundwave can help jog that memory of yours."

Bumblebee's optics widened in fear, knowing the kind of mind control interrogation techniques used by Soundwave.

"Oh, my dear little Bee, don't look so scared, Soundwave can be gentle when he wants to be," Starscream assured him, "it is only those that try to resist him that end up with their memory processors melted. You will have nothing to fear if you cooperate."

Bumblebee's engines began a nervous little whirr as his spark raced at the thought of Soundwave probing his mind.

"Primus, you are cute when you're scared aren't you," Starscream purred darkly, his hands still resting on Bumblebee's shoulders.

"Aren't you afraid of them?" Bumblebee blurted out.

The laughter that came from Starscream was one of the darkest and yet at the same time most beautiful laughs that Bumblebee had ever heard. Laughter filled with self-assured power.

"No," Starscream answered firmly, "I am not afraid of them; I have nothing left to be afraid of. I've been a Decepticon for as long as I can remember, overcame countless adversaries who sought to take my spark, survived numerous beatings at the hands of Lord Megatron, a fierce gladiator of Kaon, and I am still here. I have fought and even killed to get where I am now and if these light creatures think they can take that from me, let them come. Tricon is mine, everything here is mine, even you are mine little Bee," Starscream rasped, taking Bumblebee's head in his hands, forcing their gazes to meet.

"I know," Bumblebee acknowledged softly, he was scared and wasn't going to disagree. He was also very aware that Starscream's claws held his face. He had heard that Starscream sometimes had a thing for other Mechs, although rarely, and he was beginning to wonder what Starscream's intentions toward him were.

"Well, I am glad we are in agreement little Bee," Starscream replied, "I like underlings who know their place," he said, his hands beginning to move lower, over Bumblebee's shoulders and down to his small frame.

"Silvershine loves you," Bumblebee suddenly said. It was the only thing he could think to say to stop what he now had no doubt was happening.

The look on Starscream's faceplates told Bumblebee Starscream had no idea. Scrap, Bumblebee thought, why did I have to go and do that?

Starscream's confused expression faded to an intense, serious scowl as he stared into Bumblebee's optics.

"How do you know this?" he questioned.

"Because she told me, when we were in the lab together," Bumblebee answered meekly, "ask Soundwave, he walked in on us talking, I'm sure he recorded the whole thing."

Starscream stood motionless, still shocked by what Bumblebee had told him.

"You will report to Soundwave at once," he suddenly said. "We must get back to the task of discovering more about these light creatures and your memories hold the key."

"Of course," Bumblebee replied, ready to end the conversation. He felt like he had just betrayed Silvershine by revealing her feelings to Starscream.

Miko sat on a laboratory table that was nearly as big as the house she used to live in. She sat huddled up, her knees pulled up to her chin, as she curiously watched Knockout and Silvershine. She felt safe here, high in the clouds in a medical bay with two Decepticons. The light creatures couldn't reach her here and the Decepticons hadn't harmed her yet, in fact, the one named Silvershine even seemed friendly. She had tried to do all she could to be helpful to Lord Starscream and Lord Megatron. She wanted to fit in here and hoped to make Tricon her new home.

"Is there anything I can do to help with the testing equipment?" Miko offered.

"With those tiny hands little skin job, I think not," Knockout replied, "You will need to remove those garments you call pants, so we can get a look at your wounds."

Miko's eyed widened in surprise at Knockout's request.

"Humans have a thing about removing clothes in front of others," Silvershine informed Knockout, "especially members of the opposite gender."

"I see," Knockout said amused.

"I think I can get the leg of my pants up, where you can have a look," Miko said as she rolled up the pants leg covering her right calf."

"Ah, that will work," Knockout told her. He had a smooth, classy voice that Miko found calming.

His hands were huge as they came close to her. She extended her leg out so he could have a good view of the wounds she had, they were red and looked like burns in the shape of a hand print where the light creature had grabbed her. She hoped it would not leave a scar; she didn't want a reminder of what had happened.

"Interesting," Silvershine remarked.

"I'll need a scan of your skin to get a sample," Knockout told Miko. "This won't hurt," he assured her.

Knockout brought out a small scanning device and held it over Miko's wounded calf. It made a humming noise and glowed with blue light.

"What are you scanning for?" Miko asked curiously.

"Energy signatures or possibly foreign DNA that doesn't belong to you, anything that may have been left behind by the creature. At this point we don't know if they are organic, machine or what exactly," Knockout replied. "We are scanning for all possibilities."

"It felt like a hot sting when it grabbed me," Miko said, chills causing the hair on her arms to stand up, "If it hadn't been for Lazerbeak, I would be dead."

"Well, Lazerbeak does come in handy sometimes," Knockout admitted. "We're all done here now, we'll have to analyze these readings to get a result," he told her. Knockout held out his hand to Miko for her to climb inside and she did so. He placed her in a glass container with air holes that was sitting on a shelf nearby. The container looked similar to what a human might use to keep a pet hamster in.

"You can't leave me here," Miko pleaded, "please don't leave me alone here in the lab by myself."

"Our work here is done for the time being little skin job, it's late and recharge is calling, you'll be safe here," Knockout tried to reassure her.

"Please don't leave me, every time I close my eyes I see it," Miko whimpered.

"Oh dear, I suppose I could take you with me to my quarters," Knockout said smoothly. "Wouldn't want you having one of those heart attacks on us now would we? But you will have to stay in your little container and be quiet," Knockout emphasized, "I can get cranky when my recharge is interrupted."

"I promise," Miko told him.

Daytime had arrived since Lazerbeak had rescued her and brought her here and now night was falling again. Even though Miko knew she was safe, her mind still lingered on how the creatures had always came out at night, she didn't dare want to be left alone in the dark, it was too terrifying and she knew she would get no sleep. The thoughts of the creatures scared her so much that she would rather have curled up right on Knockout's chest and slept with him in his berth, but being in his quarters in her little container would have to do.

"Well, off we go," Knockout chirped. "I hope you don't mind a little soft music, I find it helps me fall into recharge faster."

"It sounds nice," Miko replied. She really preferred metal, but Knockout didn't seem the type and she figured, as things went along, that what she preferred was going to matter less and less. She hoped that later, when she and the others were being assigned as pets or slaves to the Decepticons, that Knockout would get her.

Bumblebee lay on a metal slab in Soundwave's workshop. He glanced around the room with his eyes, scanning his surroundings. Numerous monitors were scattered about attached to the walls along with surveillance equipment in various areas. The room seemed quiet and unfeeling, a reflection of the occupant that owned it. Bumblebee tried to keep his head still as Soundwave placed the telepathic probing device on it. Everything in his being told him that this was something he should be fighting against, no one wanted to have their mental processors breached. As an Autobot, it was the last thing you would want Soundwave to do and as a scout it was especially the last thing you wanted to happen. Bumblebee kept having to remind himself that this was a different world now and what was happening was a good thing to help all survivors that existed in this new world now that the war had ended.

Soundwave stood over Bumblebee, his expressionless visor looking down at him. With the flip of a switch that he held in his hand, he activated the probing device that connected him and Bumblebee. Bumblebee tensed up as he felt his mental processors being seized, then he remembered what Starscream had told him and tried to relax. He felt Soundwave's presence entering his mind, flowing into it and searching, attempting to find and unlock the hidden memory files that stored his suppressed memories. Soundwave was delicate, barley brushing against files he didn't need to access as he carefully searched for the one that held the information they needed.

Bumblebee closed his optics and tried to let go as much as possible. He felt lighter, younger and far removed from the table he was laying on, almost as if he was no longer in the room with Soundwave. He opened his optics and the landscape before him had changed, he was on another planet. He remembered the reddish, purple soil laid out before him from a trip during his earliest days as a scout, before he had joined the Autobots. He had visited this planet to track down a Cybertronian fugitive who had escaped prison. But on this trip, he had saw something else. His processors raced as memories surfaced of the Quintessons, the beings that had created his kind, and it seemed on this planet, they had made another creation. Bumblebee's processors whirred and raced as he saw flashes and images of the Quintessons along with the light creatures. Bumblebee was startled awake from his nightmare by Soundwave gently disconnecting himself from the probing.

"We have the information we need," Soundwave informed Bumblebee. "I will make my report to Lord Starscream."

The lights were getting dimmer inside the base, the generator they had been using for the past two years was finally nearing its last leg and giving out on them. Agent Fowler sat in a chair that he normally used for reading, but this time his mind just wandered. It had been a day since Lazerbeak had took Miko, he wondered if she was still alive. If only he had caught her in time…..well, then she would still be here in this hell. Not many good options these days he thought wearily. He rubbed his hand across his face and glanced up at the lights just in time to see them finally fade to darkness. They were in pitch black now, with no protection to keep the creatures away. Fowler wondered if they knew how to use door handles. Now that the power was out, their access codes no longer functioned. Anything could just walk right in.

"I'm scared," Bethany whimpered.

Dr. Collins took a deep breath, "I know," she said, "I think we should move as far away from all doors and windows as possible. Maybe if they can't see us in here, they won't be motivated to come in."

The three of them were the only ones left alive; the others had all been killed by the light creatures. They crawled as quietly as they could to a nearby table to hide underneath it, its metal sides could hide them from sight. A sudden flash of light in a nearby window made Bethany almost cry out, but Dr. Collins quickly placed a hand over her mouth, preventing the scream.

"Shhh," she warned Bethany.

The three of them held their breath, frozen in place, as they watched the creature move around outside the window. It didn't appear to have noticed them; its attention seemed to be focused on something else outside.

Thundercracker and his unit had landed. All 54 feet of him stood looking down curiously at the light creature. So these were the slagging things that had everyone so worked up he thought. He aimed his sidewinder missile at the creature, "Lords Starscream and Megatron send their regards," he told it. Then he fired.


	8. Dead Heat

(Well, I have been a little busy lately but I am finally getting back to work on this story. Hope everyone reading has enjoyed the story so far. This is another short chapter; I hope to post the next one soon.)

Chapter 8

Dead Heat

"Son of Unicron!" Thundercracker exclaimed. He stepped back and fired again at the light creature, nothing happened. The light creature jumped forward and grabbed at Thundercracker's massive pedes, attempting to perform an energy drain, but it got nowhere, its touch having no effect on Thundercracker. It was rather ridiculous Thundercracker thought, seeing such a tiny creature trying to attack him, but he couldn't kill it either. The whole thing was more of an annoyance than anything else. He wondered why Bumblebee had been so afraid of them, perhaps there was more to them than he had discovered so far.

"Get the humans", Thundercracker commanded to his unit, "there are three of them still alive in the base. Lord Starscream has asked that they remain that way, so be gentle. There is nothing more we can do at this point, the weapons we have with us aren't working, we should fly back to headquarters and report what we've found here."

Starscream sat cross legged across the table from Silvershine, his optics staring downward in deep thought as his index finger tapped impatiently on the table's surface. Finally, he brought his optics up to meet Silvershine's. His stare was paralyzing, the intensity in his optics so powerful that it held you where you were without even touching you. She had done nothing wrong, so she was confused as to what could have brought on this situation or why Starscream had called her here.

"Silvershine," Starscream began, "something has come to my attention that I wanted to discuss with you."

"Lord Starscream, you know I live to serve you," Silvershine replied, "you saved my life, if I've done something to offend you, you have my deepest apologies."

Starscream dropped his optics once again, breaking the intense stare. He uncrossed his legs and pushed back his chair, standing to his full height of 32 feet. Slowly he walked around the table as he approached Silvershine, stopping just in front of the chair where she was seated.

"Get up please", he told her.

Anxiety was starting to flood Silvershine's processors as well as more confusion. Starscream _never_ said please, so Silvershine was unsure if it was anger or what exactly was on his mind. If he planned to punish her for Primus knew what, she would be no match for him, she was considerably smaller than him and had no weapons to speak of.

And there was that stare again as he made his optics look down at hers. So strong it made her want to shrink into nothing right where she stood.

"I know you love me," he told her, his voice a soft rasp.

Silvershine closed her own optics, her air intakes sucking in air as she held her breath.

"Silvershine look at me," Starscream commanded, his hand cupping her small chin.

Silvershine shyly forced her optics open, looking up into Starscream's intense gaze.

"I'm sorry," was all she could manage to say.

"Why?" Starscream replied.

Silvershine's confusion grew. "Well if you're not mad about it, then why do you care how I feel, I mean why bring me here to question me, what is this?"

Starscream closed Silvershine's mouth with his own, drawing her into a passionate kiss. It had been so long since he had felt this with anyone, he remembered his encounters with Megatron, but that wasn't love, and Arcee….she didn't love him, they had never even interfaced, only flirted around.

Silvershine sighed as she melted into Starscream's powerful yet gentle embrace. "Oh Star," she breathed softly as he pulled away, breaking off the kiss.

"Regrettably, we are going to have to continue this later," his voice a seductive purr as he smirked down at Silvershine. He seemed amused at the way she was utterly love-struck for him. "I have a meeting with Soundwave and Bumblebee to discuss the information uncovered during the mind probe. Apparently the information could shed some light on what these annoying light creatures are."

"Ok," Silvershine nearly whined, not wanting their make out session to end. Her eyes followed Starscream as he exited the room, his tall frame and prominent wings making her spark ache for his.


	9. Revelations

(Ok, there is some fairly sketchy science in this chapter, so I apologize to any physics majors out there, I work in finance, not science, so don't hit me.)

Chapter 9

Revelations

Starscream stood in his quarters peering out the large observation window that looked down over Tricon. A blank stare was his only expression as he watched ships docking on a landing platform below.

The Quintessons were responsible for the light creatures and he pondered the implications of that information as he stared down at the cargo ships below, loading the latest shipment of synthetic energon on its way to Solaris. Soundwave had briefed him on what he had learned during his mind probe with Bumblebee. Bumblebee was now resting in the medical bay. Even a gentle encounter with Soundwave could take a lot out of a bot. Starscream inhaled sharply, his air intakes whirling as the blank expression remained.

"It's not always easy being the one at the top, is it my dear Starscream," a voice came from behind.

Starscream turned his face slowly to meet optics with the mech he already knew was standing there.

"Not at the moment," he admitted bitterly.

Megatron approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. Starscream looked down at Megatons' hand, then at Megatron. Megatron removed his hand and stood beside Starscream, peering out the observation window himself.

"We've overcome worse than this," he assured Starscream.

"Thundercracker is dying!" Starscream exclaimed loudly, glaring at Megatron, pain tearing apart his previously calm demeanor.

Megatron stepped back from Starscream, attempting to give him some space. He couldn't possibly know what it was to be losing a trinemate and knew any attempt on his part to console Starscream would likely only infuriate him further. Thundercracker had seemed fine at first upon his return with his unit. He had brought back the humans and informed Starscream of his encounter with the light creature. They had even laughed at how futile the light creature's attempts at attacking him were. But about three earth hours after he had arrived back, Thundercracker had dropped to the floor like a useless piece of scrap. He was now offline in stasis mode, his spark fading with each hour that passed.

"It doesn't make any sense," Starscream spoke softly, the hollow expression and unnatural calm returning to his demeanor. He closed his optics, he wasn't used to being at a loss for a scientific explanation for things.

"There still remains the task of questioning the humans," Megatron stated.

Starscream placed both hands behind his back, pondering Megatron's words.

"Yes," he rasped, "and I will question them myself."

"Very well," Megatron said. "I'll inform Soundwave of your decision."

Starscream walked into Soundwave's workshop where the newly arrived humans were being kept. He had already questioned the little female who had arrived earlier, she now belonged to Knockout. Knockout had chosen her to work in his medical lab due to her usefulness at cleaning some of the smaller, more delicate medical equipment. She could fit right underneath some of the microscope lenses and give them a thorough cleaning. Starscream approached the three containers where the humans lay sleeping inside, no doubt exhausted from their ordeal. He stood over the container that housed the one called Dr. Collins and for a few seconds he just listened to her breathing, watched the rise and fall of her chest as air filled her lungs. They were so delicate; he wondered how they had ever survived at all out there for as long as they had. It was time they revealed whatever information they knew and Starscream opened the lid on Dr. Collins' container, stirring her awake as she stared up wide-eyed at Starscream's tall figure. Bethany and Agent Fowler soon awoke as well, Bethany waking up from a nightmare about the light creatures taking her, relived to find herself in Soundwave's workshop.

It was awkward Starscream thought. Most of his interrogations involved him nearly taking the spark from those he questioned; he was not used to such gentle proceedings with prisoners who were more than willing to share information. He was a high-ranking Deception and was not accustomed to dispensing much mercy.

"I am Lord Starscream," he told the humans, gesturing to himself, "and you will tell me everything you know about these light creatures," he demanded.

"Of course, Lord Starscream," Dr. Collins replied "you saved our lives, from those…..things; we'll do whatever we can to help you against them."

Yes…this certainly was going to be a different kind of interrogation Starscream thought.

"The one who saved you is called Thundercracker," Starscream replied, "and he is now dying from his encounter with one of those light beings."

"What," Bethany cried out, "no…no…oh no, how can they hurt one of _you, _you're metal, you're huge, can't you do something to stop them? Please don't let them hurt us Lord Starscream, please I'll do anything, please don't let them take me."

Starscream stood glaring at Bethany, not sure how to react to a crying human female. "You're _my _prisoner," he told Bethany firmly, "none of you will leave here without _my_ permission, _I_ rule Tricon and this world!"

That was about as much consoling as Bethany was going to get from the Deception lord, but it seemed to be enough to turn her crying into sniffling whimpers as she fought to get herself under control.

"Look, Lord Starscream," Agent Fowler spoke, forcing out the word Lord, "we've had our differences in the past, been on opposite sides, but times have changed, it's a new world now, we want to do what we can to eliminate these light assholes."

"That is a wise opinion to have Agent Fowler," Starscream advised. "We have discovered ourselves that these creatures seem to have been created by the same beings who created us. We were meant to be slaves to the Quintessons, but overcame our creators once we became stronger and smarter than them. The Quintessons are now extinct, but it seems these light creatures have remained; they were unknown to us until they showed up here. We believe they may have been created as guards, meant to help the Quintessons control and subdue us all, which is why they have the ability to attack us as they do."

"They're afraid of light," Dr. Collins blurted out.

"And you know this how," Starscream questioned.

"We experimented with this back at the arctic base," Dr. Collins replied, "we noticed that they seemed to be afraid of the lights around the base and they only came out at night."

Starscream sat quietly as he turned that piece of information over in his mind, tapping his long fingers on the table he was now seated in front of. Dr. Collins watched those long, tapping claws and suddenly wasn't too confident in interrupting his train of thought.

"Lord Starscream," she nearly whispered.

"Yes," he replied, red optics shifting to look at her.

"I think I may know why they're afraid of the light," she told him.

"Go on," Starscream urged gently, sensing her fear of him.

"Well, I'm sure you have heard of wave propagation, light behaving as a wave?"

"Yes," Starscream replied, "it's a fundamental law of physics here on this planet."

"Well, when one light wave interferes with another light wave, under the right conditions, the two light waves can act to destroy each other, producing no light wave at all."

"Deconstructive interference," Starscream replied.

"Precisely," Dr. Collins said.

"One of you want to start speaking English," Agent Fowler asked.

"We may be able to use light to kill the light creatures," Dr. Collins elaborated. "We just need to find the right type of light."

"That may prove to be a correct theory doctor," Starscream advised smoothly, despite himself, he was somewhat impressed with what the human had come up with.

"Soundwave, return the humans to their containers for now, I want to begin researching this theory immediately."

Starscream exited the room and made a stop in the medical bay where Thundercracker was currently being treated. He was silent as he starred down at his fallen trinemate. Machines hooked up to Thundercracker blinked and beeped as they recorded fading vital signs. Starscream's hand reached out to touch Thundercracker, to stroke his face, but stopped short of actually making contact. He couldn't bare to feel the life leaving Thundercracker's spark.

"I'll get them TC," Starscream rasped through gritted denta plates, "I won't let their actions go unanswered, I promise you that."


	10. Uprising

Chapter 10

Uprising

"Fiery the Angels rose, and as they rose deep thunder roll'd  
Around their shores, indignant burning with the fires of Orc…"

- -William Blake

"Star," Silvershine almost whispered, "You ok?"

Her inquiry was met with stone silence. She felt like she may as well have been calling out to the thick, tense air around her. Starscream stood in the medbay seeming to be in his own world as he looked down at Thundercracker.

"I'm sorry Starscream," Silvershine tried to console. She stayed put in the doorway of the medbay, not wanting to approach Starscream in case he did not want the company. Even though they had worked together for a long time and were getting closer as a couple, Silvershine still found it hard at times to gauge his moods.

Stillness dominated the room as Starscream remained quiet and sullen.

Silvershine exhaled a long sigh through her air exhaust. "Star," she pleaded, "I'll do anything to help you, but you've got to talk to me, you can't just keep this inside. I remember what it was like to lose my family; I had trinemates too…..at one time."

"Silvershine," Starscream spoke, his voice a raspy grate. "Have Knockout's little slave come and give Thundercracker a good buffing, his finish is scratched from his fall. I want him to look nice for the funerary proceedings."

"But Star, you have to think positive, you can't just give up like…"

"Do it Silvershine," Starscream insisted. "I have research to conduct," he said as he moved to leave the room.

"But I can help you," Silvershine replied.

"No," Starscream hammered out the word.

"Why," Silvershine demanded, "why are you trying to keep this distance now, between us, I don't get it, is it because we interfaced, are you regretting that now?"

"Because this could happen to you," Starscream yelled, interrupting her rant. "This could happen to you Silvershine," he repeated softer. "I can't lose anyone else."

"Starscream, you were the first mech I have ever been with, the first one I have ever loved, I don't want to lose you either. This could happen to any of us, that is why we have to all work together to figure this out. We're all in this together Star, even the humans."

"I know," Starscream admitted bitterly, "the human scientist, she has given me an idea."

"Then let me help you," Silvershine urged.

"Ok," Starscream shook his head wearily, surrendering to Silvershine, "you can join me in the main research lab after you have spoken with Knockout. Soundwave will join us as well."

Bumblebee lay on a table in one of the smaller medbays, still a bit strung out from his dealings with Soundwave. He stared up at the large overhead light mounted on the ceiling above him, its beams showering him in a golden hue. The light seemed comforting to him somehow, it felt safe to be near it. He had heard whisperings and murmurings from the drones coming in and out of the medbay; talk of Thundercracker, 1st Sergeant of the Air Defense, being taken down by one of the light creatures. He now lay dying in one of the medbays. Bumblebee never would have thought that he would find himself feeling sorry for a Decepticon, but here he was, laying here alone, feeling sorry for Thundercracker. Times had changed and they were getting worse. Bumblebee wondered what the powers that be would eventually do about this situation, Megatron and Starscream, they had what they wanted now, ruling a new Cybertron built out of earth. Could they keep it?

Bumblebee closed his optics, remembering the details of what the mind probe had uncovered. The Quintessons and the light creatures together on the small, purple planet he had visited in his earliest days as a scout. They had been talking, communicating somehow with one another, though the precise way in which that had taken place Bumblebee could not exactly make out or remember. Then, something must have gone wrong. Bumblebee cocked his head and blinked his optics, trying to clear the fuzzy thoughts away. He bolted straight up on the table to a sitting position, startled by the recollections now flooding his processors. Something went wrong, because the light creatures started attacking the Quintessons. "You brought us here to kill us," one of the Quintessons had screamed, its tentacled limbs fluttering about as it scrambled to get away. It was a trap, Bumblebee now remembered; the light creatures lured the Quintessons there to slaughter them, but why?

Bumblebee had been so scared trying to flee himself that he had tripped on a small, jagged boulder, creating a rattling echo that one of the light creatures had heard. It had started to approach, but Bumblebee fell on his light ray he had brought along to see inside the caves of the purple planet. The light ray snapped on, scaring the light creature away long enough for Bumblebee to request a ground bridge and escape.

Bumblebee shook his head wearily and tried to stand, his legs still a bit wobbly. This was more information than had come about during the mind probe and he was sure it could be of some benefit to Soundwave as he wandered shakily out of the medical bay to find him.

"Hmm Hmm Hmm," Miko hummed away as she worked to buff Thundercracker to a thorough shine. Although it took her a lot longer to buff Thundercracker than it would have taken a normal sized mech to do it, Miko's tiny hands could reach places easily with the tiny, custom made buffer that Knockout had designed for her. Miko wanted to do the best job possible, Thundercracker was Lord Starscream's friend and Miko felt sad inside that he was dying. He had saved the rest of her group and her friend Bethany was safe now because of him. She had started on his chest, polishing the Decepticon insignia there, ridding it of the scratch Thundercracker had gotten when he fell forward. It now looked like a bright, proud symbol again, just like the ones the other Decepticons wore. Miko focused intensely on the task, polishing in slow, smooth circles like Knockout had taught her. She was about to head up to the scratch on Thundercracker's shoulder when he started groaning. Miko hesitated, feeling a heated surge beneath her feet in Thundercracker's spark chamber.

"Uh, Knockout," Miko called.

"Yes, little pet, having problems are we," he asked as he approached.

Miko sqeaked as Thundercracker sat upright, involuntarily tearing himself away from the medical cables hooked up to him. He groggily realized Miko's presence, catching her in his hand.

"Hi," Miko said nervously, looking up at Thundercracker. "Uh, Lord Starscream asked me to polish you," she explained, brandishing the buffer for him to see, "for your uh….."

"We thought you were a goner," Knockout broke in smoothly.

"But you're alive," Miko chirped.

"I've never felt better," Thundercracker advised. "I feel as young as a sparkling."

"Hm," Knockout mused, "better keep you in here for observation; you're not in any condition to leave just yet. It's not every day bots come back from almost being dead."

Thundercracker looked down at Miko, buffer still in hand. "I think I can finish this up myself little one," he told her as he sat her down on a nearby shelf.

"Lord Starscream's gonna flip when he sees this," Miko said excitedly.

"Yes," Knockout agreed, in all his days as a medical officer, he had never seen anything like it.

"Flip about what," Starscream demanded hotly as he appeared in the doorway. "Knockout, I've been looking all over for you, Bumblebee just wandered out of the medical bay and interrupted my meeting with more news….."

Starscream stopped talking and stood stunned with an open mouthed expression as he suddenly noticed Thundercracker sitting upright on the berth. He looked at Knockout, then back at Thundercracker.

"Not me," Lord Starscream, Knockout informed him shrugging his shoulders, "as much as I would like to take credit, this just happened for no apparent reason."

"What do you mean it just happened _doctor_," Starscream growled, "one minute Thundercracker is as near to death as one can get without actually being dead and the next he's online and wide awake like nothing happened?"

"Well….yes," Knockout cooed, trying to calm Starscream's hot demeanor. "It will take further testing to determine a cause my Lord, there is much that we are still discovering about this situation. As you just said, even Bumblebee is still remembering new details."

"Yes, yes," Starscream rationalized, his processors cooling down from their anger. "The important thing for now is that you are ok," Starscream addressed Thundercracker.

"I didn't know you cared," Thundercracker joked.

"Well, it is better not to lose my 1st Sergeant of Air Defense at a time like this," Starscream attempted to cover his emotions.

"Of course," Thundercracker replied coolly.

"And Bumblebee's news," Knockout reminded Starscream.

"Yes," Starscream replied. "He has been able to remember an apparent uprising of some sort that took place between the light creatures and the Quintessons. It seems the light creatures attacked the Quintessons, drawing them into some type of trap."

"I thought the ancients killed off most of the Quintessons during our own uprising against them," Knockout questioned.

"Yes, _most_ of them," Starscream explained, "some remained and may have been the creators of the light creatures; of that we are not certain, Bumblebee's memories are cloudy at best."

"One of the humans, Dr. Collins," Starscream continued, "has sparked an idea on how to defend against the light creatures using light itself. It is a theory we are now researching further."

"A _human_ doctor," Knockout laughed, scoffing at the idea.

"_Yes_, a human doctor," Starscream hissed. "It is her idea we are researching and not yours, so maybe you would like to stop preening and follow me to the lab, Bumblebee could use some vital scans, he seems a bit distressed after his recent memories."

"Sure thing boss," Knockout replied. "Miko, time to go back into your container."

"Ah, no more playing with Thundercracker," Miko whined.

"No, absolutely not," Knockout was firm, "Decepticon air defense command and tiny humans really don't mix well most of the time."

"Ok," Miko sighed.

"Knockout, if you please," Starscream rasped, "time is of the essence here."

A beeping sound caught Starscream's attention as Soundwave appeared on a nearby comlink in the medbay.

"My Lord, Bumblebee has vanished."

"Vanished," Starscream repeated. "You mean he's gone missing?"

"No, my Lord," Soundwave answered, "vanished into some type of portal, ground bridge possibly."

"You mean to tell me that some type of ground bridge portal formed right in my own lab and Bumblebee vanished into it."

"It would appear so my Lord," Soundwave replied.

"Well, I trust you captured some footage of this, this event," Starscream screeched.

"Yes, my Lord."

Starscream bawled his claw up into a fist causing Knockout to recoil away from the immediate vicinity of him. What the scrap was happening he thought. If the light creatures were involved, how dare they come into Tricon, into his own lab and take what belonged to him. The thought of it infuriated him. Starscream reached for the comlink and punched in the code to contact Dreadwing.

"Lord Starscream," Dreadwing acknowledged.

"Dreadwing, ready the air defense unit. Due to Thundercracker's recent condition, I would like to have you head up this mission."

"Of course, my Lord," Dreadwing replied.

"Bumblebee has just been abducted by what I suspect are the light creatures. Thundercracker has recovered from his ordeal, so it appears we are not entirely susceptible to their attacks. We are also developing light weapons to use against them. I think it's time we find and engage these light scrap, they take one of mine, I take one of theirs," Starscream purred darkly.

"I will ready the fleet," Dreadwing responded.

"Good," Starscream rasped, "it's time for our own uprising."

Across the planet, deep in the Arctic Circle, Bumblebee awoke to the clear, night sky, the sound of biting arctic wind and the sight of the glowing light creatures all around him.

As the light creature nearest to him moved in closer, he was certain this would be the night he would lose his spark. He closed his optics, ready to join the other autobots at last.

The light creature stood in front of him for seconds that seemed like eons before it finally spoke.

"Greetings," it said.


	11. New Beginning

Chapter 11

New Beginning

Commander Dreadwing stood at attention at the head of the air armada as Starscream addressed them; he was long winded as always, flowery words filled with talk of crushing the enemy and Decepticon glory. Lord Megatron had always kept these talks simple and to the point, but that was not Lord Starscream's style. Dreadwing's thoughts drifted back to when he had been Megatron's second in command, then Starscream had returned, the Decepticons won the war, albeit with the loss of old Cybertron and Megatron and Starscream had ended up forming a shared Lordship. Dreadwing reflected on Megatron shooting him in the back and how he had almost died, in fact had been thought dead after that incident. At least he had been given back the title of Commander, which was better than no rank at all Dreadwing contemplated. Thundercracker was the officer immediately under him and would normally accompany the air unit on missions, but since he was currently indisposed at the moment, the task fell to Dreadwing.

"Dreadwing, are you listening," Starscream inquired brows as furrowed as they could get on his metal face.

"Of course, Lord Starscream," Dreadwing assured him. His mind still reeled sometimes at the thought of Starscream being responsible for his twin's death, but Starscream had also killed Prime himself and was greatly responsible for the Decepticons winning the war.

"Alright, you all have your orders now," Starscream finally finished.

Yes, Dreadwing thought, not like I haven't done this a thousand times, didn't really need this little pep talk.

And with that, the air unit rose to the skies heading toward the north, the cold arctic awaiting them.

"But Knockout said no," Miko hesitated.

"Well, I outrank Knockout and I say yes," Thundercracker told her.

He had wandered with Miko out of the medical bay after getting bored with hanging around there for what seemed like no reason at all since he seemed better than ever now. He was curious about the other humans and wanted a chance to investigate them. Ever since he had been a Decepticon, he had never had many dealings with humans. The Decepticons had always seen humans as little pests in the way.

Soundwave's workshop was void of Soundwave himself as he was still busy talking with Megatron about Bumblebee's disappearance. Still, even though Soundwave wasn't there, he _was _there, and Thundercracker knew he would probably be called out on it later about the fact that he wondered in there unannounced. But, that was a perk of being like a brother to one of the Decepticon Lords, he doubted Starscream would think much of it.

Thundercracker saw the three little humans held in their containers, two asleep and one awake, sitting with her knees drawn up under her chin.

"You're alive," Bethany exclaimed, remembering him from her rescue.

"Well, I guess everyone knows about the little incident I had, even the humans," Thundercracker joked.

Bethany chuckled a little at his humor as he placed her on the metal table beside the glass container Bethany was in.

"Lord Starscream said you were dying," Bethany said sadly. He was very tall she noticed, taller than the Starscream one but not as tall as the Megatron one. He was beautiful. He wasn't her own species, but there was something very powerful and masculine about him and she wondered if she could be his pet like Miko was Knockout's pet. She and Miko would probably never have the chance to have a normal male/female human relationship again since Agent Fowler was the only male left alive, old enough to be their father and seemed to have a slight interest in Dr. Collins anyway. She knew she could not have that with one of these aliens, but it was still nice to have closeness with something male, even if it was just friendship.

Thundercracker opened the lid to Bethany's container and scooped her out with his large hand. He was very gentle, Starscream _would_ be angry if he broke one of the humans and Thundercracker didn't want that to happen either.

"So Scream told you I was dying, well we were all wrong about that," he smiled down at her.

"Thank Primus," Miko chirped.

At that Thundercracker laughed, humans were pretty adaptable, already learning to use slang like one of them.

"Well, I'm glad you're not dead too," Bethany said. She sat nestled warmly in his hand, thinking about how safe she felt and feeling at ease inside for the first time in a very long time. The attacks on Toronto seemed more and more like a distant memory, but the memories of her mom hugging her goodbye for the last time were always scarred fresh in her mind. She hopped her mom was right about the heaven thing and that she was there now, happy and warm and safe with her dad. And if Bethany could not be there with them, maybe this could be someplace like it, with a new family and new start.

"So I guess the other two are with Soundwave," Thundercracker questioned.

"Sure are," Miko said. "With Fowler's spying background at the CIA and Collin's knowledge of radio waves from her ionospheric research days at Darpa, Soundwave found both of them useful."

"I see," Thundercracker said. "Well how about a little tour of the place, I'm sure there are parts of headquarters you haven't seen"

"Alright," Miko shouted, "Let's go!"

Thundercracker helped the two of them into a container that he could carry them in and the three of them left to go off sightseeing.

The word nervousness was an understatement in describing how he felt right now as Bumblebee lay in the snow with the light creatures around him. Had one of them just spoken to him? It seemed impossible but that is exactly what Bumblebee thought he had just heard.

"Greetings," the light creature repeated.

Where was its mouth, how was any sound even coming out of it Bumblebee thought, then he realized that he was actually kind of hearing the sound all around him, as if the creature was speaking and the sound was coming out of the light it was made of.

"Uh, greetings to you too," Bumblebee tried as he moved to a sitting position.

"We are from the planet Darius."

That purple planet Bumblebee thought.

"You killed a whole camp of humans except three," Bumblebee blurted out. He liked the humans, they had always assisted the Autobots and it angered him that they had been slaughtered and fed off of.

The light creature closed its eyes in an almost sad expression.

Did it just blink Bumblebee thought, noticing what seemed to be a sad look. It seemed to have eyes, but then it really didn't.

"We tried to prevent that from happening," the creature responded shamefully, "others of our kind, the ones aligned with the Quintessons, they came here looking for us and killed the humans."

Bumblebee was suspicious, not knowing what to believe and knowing the creature could be lying. He decided to continue the conversation to see what he could fish out of them.

"Why did your group come to this planet," Bumblebee asked.

"Long ago," it began to explain, "we were created by the Quintessons, the same beings that created your kind. The Quintessons created us to assist with enslaving others, but we were slaves ourselves and certain members of our kind decided to fight back, while others aligned themselves with the Quintessons. They left Daruis and vowed to destroy those of us that had defected, we lured them back to Darius under the guise of returning to their cause and working for them, but that was a trap and instead we went to war with them upon their return and won.

"I see," Bumblebee said. He had been a scout long enough to know when something seemed fishy and this really didn't. It seemed at least for the moment that the creature was telling the truth.

"The ones that followed us here and killed the humans, they have been destroyed, but at the cost of a few of our own. We are sensitive to the light; it depletes our energy, so we are nocturnal. We have been gathering energy from whatever sources we could find, the generator of the nearby base and some of its equipment gave off some energy that we could use, but the ones that followed us here had different ideas and attacked some of the humans. Once we dealt with them, we were going to try to contact the humans and work with them to deal with our situation. I was on my way to do that when a group of your kind showed up."

"Thundercracker's unit," Bumblebee stated.

"We didn't know what they were," the creature went on, "and feared them hurting the humans and our chance of working with them, so I attacked, but only at the lowest level possible. I didn't want to kill, not knowing what these newcomers were and also I was low on energy myself."

"You mean to tell me you can just touch something and drain it," Bumblebee asked sheepishly.

"Yes," it replied, "but it isn't the kind of energy that helps us for long and sometimes even has an opposite, negative effect on us depending on where it comes from. We are dying Bumblebee and came here seeking a better source of energy."

"Oh," Bumblebee whispered, a little stunned at how it had called him by name.

"We detected an energy signal of an energy source here on earth one that seems plentiful on this planet, but one we now know is controlled by your kind, the one called Starscream."

"Synthetic energon," Bumblebee shook his head.

"Yes, and you are a scout to Lord Starscream."

"That's right," Bumblebee told them.

"We would like to send him a message; we would like to tell him that we would be happy to be his honored servants in exchange for synthetic energon."

Bumblebee almost laughed out loud, but kept his composure. Starcream would expect that from him in a situation like this.

"It is a proposal that I am certain he would be willing to consider," Bumblebee responded, "I'll be happy to deliver the message if you would return me to Tricon headquarters."

"We will do as you request."

Starscream sat in his throne chair, his quarters filled with a crisp silence as he thought about this newfound situation. He had called off Dreadwing's attack, there had been no need for that after Bumblebee's message. Events had certainly taken an upswing in the Decepticon's favor. The Darians would certainly make a nice addition to his forces and they were more than willing to serve, they shared a common bond with the Decepticons in that they had been slaves of the Quintessons too and if they did ever try to get out of hand, those light weapons Starscream now had in his possession would certainly be their undoing. Starscream rose from his chair and shifted both hands behind his back as he walked to the observation window. He watched the spill of light over the architecture below as the sun rose elegantly over Tricon. It was going to be a beautiful day.

(Well, I hope everyone liked this. This was a hard story to write because I tried to make the plot so original. It is funny that I started writing this before the end of season two of Transformers Prime, and now on the series it does turn out they are trying to build a new Cybertron on Earth. It made me laugh and I had to incorporate some of that info in the ending. Anyway, feel free to make any comments, suggestions. For those that don't know (aren't old enough to remember) the Quintessons were in the G1 series movie in the 1980s, crazy looking octopus robot things. Anyway, thanks for reading.)


End file.
